Väriprojekti esillä konferenssissa Leidenissa

Näkymiä Leidenistä.

Tutkimusryhmämme jäsenet Merja Uotila ja Susanna Niiranen matkustavat tällä viikolla Hollantiin kansainväliseen European Social Science History -konferenssiin (ESSHC), joka järjestetään Leidenissa 26.–29.3. Esitelmän ”Controlled Colours. Reinterpretations of Socio-Culturally Controlled Dyes and Clothing in Early Modern Southern and Northern Europe” abstraktin pääsee lukemaan alta, ja itse esitys on osa torstain 27.3. Cultural Traditions and Materiality -sessiota.

Abstrakti:

The production, trade and use of dyed textiles were regulated in many ways in early modern societies: professional dyers and traders were controlled by regulations, while clothes and use of dyed textiles were governed by juridical and cultural norms and the symbolic meanings attached to specific colours. Through the (natural) dyes used in clothing, we can delve into the pre- and early modern social order in which colours and the meanings they carried were intrinsically linked. The social order was maintained, contested, and shaped – symbolically and concretely – by means of, among other things, sumptuary laws, the concept of luxury and commonly held cultural norms. The practice of dyeing trade was also often restricted by specific guild regulations.

In our presentation we compare cultural norms and sumptuary legislation from late medieval Italy via Central Europe to 19th century Finland. From this multi-perspective view, the flow of norms and attitudes, knowledge and skills between the centre and the periphery can be examined over the long term. Colourful textiles were not available to everyone, thus the regulations of the use of colours and different textile types mediated and reflected views and values of the society of the time. They also influenced the relationships between people and emphasized inequalities between various social and cultural groups. However, legislation and norms were also circumvented and criticized. Clothing was often more colourful than the regulations and social control allowed, for instance. Long-term perspective enables us to observe continuities and changes and to understand how these socio-cultural processes evolved in early modern Europe.

Kuva Susanna Niiranen